


For A While

by JayceCarter



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: First Time, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, Loneliness, M/M, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:34:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayceCarter/pseuds/JayceCarter
Summary: Kent and Travis are both just lonely voices on a radio. Can they find some connection in each other?





	For A While

 

_Meet me in The Third Rail._

 

It had all started with that stupid invitation. No, that’s not true. It started before then, back during the first damned time Kent had tuned into the Diamond City radio station, when he’d heard that shy, lonely voice calling to him over the airwaves.

 

Boy, how Kent understood that. Funny that you could be so well known and still not have a single friend, a single person to spend time with. People knew Kent’s voice, but not a single one of them would speak to him.

 

Was Travis the same? Seemed like it, the way he stumbled through his news reports, the way the words would stall and Kent could almost see the kid lick his lips in hesitation before continuing. Kid? Hell, who knew how old he was, he just struck Kent as a kid.

 

Maybe it all started with that picture, the idea of some disembodied tongue licking the connected lips, and it drove Kent to get on the air. He’d praised the Diamond City radio station, something to try and reach across that distance to the man behind the mic.

 

And who would have figured that no more than an hour later, Travis had responded with a remark about the Silver Shroud, something he’d never mentioned before. Must have been meant for Kent.

 

The shy, veiled flirts went back and forth after that, two months of brief exchanges. Travis would mention a news story and Kent would throw on the best relating Silver Shroud episode. Kent would talk about the latest murder in Goodneighbor and find himself serenaded by an old, catchy song from Diamond City.

 

All fun and games until Kent had gone and done the stupid thing of sending a message with a trader, the messy words scrawled across it. So it wasn’t where it started, but it was damned well where he’d lost his mind.

 

If Travis lived in Diamond City, he was higher class than Kent. A human still, and Kent was just a ghoul who lived inside a room and in a comic book.

 

But Travis had sent a message back, and Kent had it stuck in his pocket, clutched in his hand like it could give him confidence.

 

Hours passed. No one showed. He tried to tell himself it was the travel, nothing more. Still, each new person who walked in, who walked right past him in his stupid silver shroud hat, they all said the same thing.

 

Travis wasn’t coming. He’d stood him up.

 

It was almost morning when Kent dropped the crumpled paper onto the table, taking one more look at it before he left.

 

_I’ll meet you in the Third Rail at nine tonight. Wear a Silver Shroud hat so I know it’s you._

 

He should have known better than to hope. People like Kent didn’t get fairy tales.

 

#

 

Kent closed his eyes for a moment back in his room. He dropped his forehead against the radio in front of him, frustration across his face.

 

“Is that how you use that thing? Must be why my ratings aren’t that great.”

 

Kent stood and spun around, the voice one he’d never forget, the one that lulled him to sleep at night, playing over his radio while he wrapped his arms around the pillow on his bed.

 

Finally, a face to go with the voice.

 

“Travis?”

 

The man nodded. He was young, and Kent felt lecherous for a moment. Kent was pre-war, and Travis couldn’t be older than twenty. So many fantasies and to think this was the person he’d been picturing?

 

Travis’s shoulders hunched forward, hands stuck into his pockets like he wanted to take up as little room as possible.

 

“Where were you?” Kent hadn’t meant to have so much accusation in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. “I waited all night.”

 

Travis pulled one hand out of his pocket to push his hair out of his face. “I know. I saw you sitting there, and I lost my nerve.”

 

Kent shifted his gaze to the radio mic. He could almost hear what Travis was thinking, probably that Kent didn’t live up to his expectations either. Who knew what Travis had been hoping for, but he doubted a virgin comic book nerd ghoul was it.

 

“Sorry." Kent shrugged. "You know, that, I didn’t tell you I was a ghoul. Just never seemed the right time to mention it.”

 

Travis frowned, bushy eyebrows inching toward each other. “What? I don’t care about that. I already suspected it, I mean, you live in good neighbor and with that rough voice of yours?” Red covered his cheeks. “No, it wasn’t that. I just, I’m not used to dates.” He shrugged, those shoulders of his wider than they looked when he pulled in on himself.

 

“Nervous? What do you have to be nervous about? Last I checked, you’re young and handsome and human.”

 

One side of Travis’s mouth tilted up. “You think I’m handsome?”

 

Kent opened his mouth then snapped it shut again. Finally, he sighed. “Like you don’t know that already. If you’re here to apologize for standing me up, don’t bother. It wasn’t the first time, it won’t be the last.”

 

“What if I don’t want to leave?”

 

Kent shook his head before walking over to the radio and exchanging tapes to get the next episode running. His hands shook as he did it, nerves doing cartwheels through his veins as he tried to seem collected. “Look, kid, it’s fine. We all make mistakes. Don’t have to explain. We’ll just write this off as a bad idea.”

 

He didn’t wait to hear anything else, didn’t want to see Travis walk out. Instead, he sat in the chair and messed with the buttons as if he needed to adjust something. Of course, if anyone would know that bull it was, it would be Travis. He couldn’t bluff another radio host.

 

Just when the silence became too heavy, when he was sure Travis had walked out, a hand was set on his shoulder. Kent jumped at the contact.

 

Great job playing it cool.

 

Travis squeezed his shoulder in a gentle touch. “I’m really sorry about earlier, Kent. I’ve never done this, okay? I’ve never gone to meet someone in a bar, I’ve never-“ The words cut off, a soft pop as if Travis had snapped his mouth shut before uttering anything else.

 

Kent frowned as he stood and turned to face Travis. “You never what?”

 

Travis shook his head and pulled his hand away. “Maybe you’re right, maybe this is a mistake.”

 

Kent reached out and took his hand. “You never what? Tell me, please.”

 

Travis dropped his gaze. “I’ve never been with anyone, okay? Can I go now? I think I prefer being behind my mic where at least I can’t see when people make fun of me.”

 

Kent caught Travis’s chin and lifted his face until he could capture his lips. Travis froze at first, still against him, and Kent didn’t hold him tightly. He wanted him to be able to pull away if this wasn’t what he wanted, if Kent had read him wrong.

 

After a breath that spilled out, across Kent’s lips, Travis responded. He threw his arms around Kent pulled him closer, mashing their lips together. A tooth caught Kent’s lip, a sting he’d have hated any other time, but it didn’t stop them, didn’t slow them.

 

They stumbled backward, and Kent caught them with a hand against the wall, so Travis didn’t smack his head. The kiss broke from a nervous laugh that rattled from Travis’s throat. “So, well, that’s new.”

 

Kent’s breath came out hard, his body still against Travis’s, mind unable to keep up. This was not how he’d pictured things going. “You want to slow this down? I, uh, I don’t want to take advantage of you here.”

 

Travis slid his hand along Kent’s exposed neck, fingers dipping beneath the collar of his jacket and shirt. “You’re not taking advantage of me. I want this. I’ve been thinking about this ever since the first time I heard you on the radio. I couldn’t believe it when you mentioned me, spent an hour sitting there trying to decide if it was just a coincidence, if I was reading too much into it. Don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as when I responded.”

 

Kent couldn’t help but smile. “Goodneighbor is lonely, you know? Your voice? Got me through a lot of lonely nights.”

 

Travis stole a quick kiss. “Maybe I could make this night a little less lonely?” His voice came out breathy and quiet, that shy quality that melted Kent. Travis’s fingers began to work loose the buttons of Kent’s shirt.

 

“Wait, wait.” Kent caught his hands before he got the second one loose. “You should know something. I’ve never done this either.”

 

Travis froze. “What? You’re pre-war, aren’t you?”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. I was twenty when the bombs fell, and comic book nerds weren’t in high demand. Then I was a ghoul, and in case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t in any higher demand. I’m not all that confident, and I’m not great with men or women, and I’m clumsy-“

 

This time it was Travis who moved. He pushed off the wall and threw himself against Kent, fingers digging into the lapels of his jacket. They stumbled backward.

 

Kent tried to catch them both, but they fell into the memory lounger, Travis’s thin body over his, kneeing him once in the crotch before managing to get his thigh between Kent’s, one hand on the edge of the lounger. Kent gripped the back of Travis’s head to deepen the kiss, their teeth clicking together when neither could figure out the right tilt, but neither seemed to care.

 

Travis leaned up and yanked his own jacket off, dropping it to the floor. Kent’s hands slipped beneath Travis’s shirt, pulling it up and over his head. His chest was thin, ribs showing, a contrast between the perfect skin and Kent’s ruined hands.

 

Kent unbutton Travis’s belt then, unhooking the button. He met the gaze of the younger man. “Is this okay? We can stop.”

 

Travis fumbled his pants off, leaning over Kent as he tried to angle his body to remove them without losing contact. He kicked them off, leaving him naked and in Kent’s lap.

 

At which point Kent froze.

 

What was he thinking? He had no idea what he was doing. He was going to make a fool of himself.

 

Travis kissed Kent, then took Kent’s hand and led it to his cock. The kiss was slow, coaxing Kent to relax, until Kent pulled his fingers into a grip around Travis’s cock and gave one testing stroke.

 

A moan broke through the kiss, Travis dropping his head down to rest on Kent’s shoulder, his body shuddering at the contact.

 

Travis reached between them, his hands trembling as he undid Kent’s pants, pulling at them until he could access Kent’s dick. His soft hand wrapped around him and Kent mirrored Travis’s moan.

 

Hell, maybe being with Travis made it a little less overwhelming. He couldn’t worry about not having a clue what he was doing because Travis didn’t know either. They were figuring this out at the same time, and that excited him. They were discovering it together.

 

Kent used his free hand pull Travis closer, then moved Travis’s hand away, using his hands to line their cocks up together. He stroked them both, savoring the difference in texture. His skin was heated, Travis’s cooler. Kent’s scarred and red, Travis pale and smooth.

 

Travis twisted his face toward Kent’s throat and kissed at the skin there, his hands going to Kent’s waist. “I never expected this, you know? I didn’t show up and expect this.”

 

Kent dropped his head back, giving Travis access, focusing on stroking them both, enjoying the way Travis’s hips thrust upward. “Me either. I listened to your voice so many times, pretended you were here with me. I thought, maybe, we’d have a drink together. Not this, though. I’m- well, I’m not gonna last long here.”

 

Travis sped his hips more, tiny thrusts that had Kent wanting to push him off and taste him. But, no, there was time for that later, if they got a later.

 

He really wanted a later.

 

He groaned as he came, dick twitching, spilling against Travis’s stomach and his own clothing. Travis tensed above him before following, his warm come doing the same, splashing onto Kent’s hand.

 

Travis continued to rest against Kent, seeming in no hurry to get up. Kent wiped his hand on his pants -he’d just clean them afterward- and wrapped his arms around Travis. “Cold? Memory Den has a chill sometimes.”

 

Travis sat up but didn’t meet his gaze. “I should maybe get dressed.” He pulled out of Kent’s lap and his arms, fumbling for his clothing. He used his shirt to wipe himself off, movements uneasy and jerky.

 

“Don’t leave,” Kent whispered.

 

Travis looked back, eyes tired. “Why not?”

 

“Because I hear you on the radio every night, and I know you’re just as lonely as I am. Stay with me? Just for a while.”

 

Travis’s gaze moved to the radio, and Kent could almost see into his head. He was seeing his own set up in Diamond City, whatever lonely place he’d created for the radio, where he had nothing but himself and his mic there.

 

Finally, Travis nodded. “Yeah. I think I’d like to stay, for a while.”

 

Kent smiled and stood. So, it wasn’t forever, but it was for a while. For a while, neither of them were going to be alone. For a while, they’d find some comfort together, in each other.

 

And who knew? For a while could turn into forever before you realized it.

 

 

 


End file.
